Numerous automated and semi-automated systems exist for treating parts of all types, shapes, and sizes, including without limitation parts used in automotive, household goods, machinery, and electronics industries. Such systems can be used to paint (e.g., liquid coating, powder coating, electrocoating, and the like), heat treat, dehydrate, clean, and perform a wide variety of other processes upon parts. As used herein, the term “treat” in its various forms refers to any of these processes.
Any of these systems can operate by conveying parts to locations within the system at which the parts are treated singularly or in batches. The systems can convey parts in any known manner, such as by conveying individual parts suspended upon hooks, brackets, wires, or other fixtures, or by conveying multiple parts in baskets, buckets, racks, pallets, and the like. The parts can be conveyed using any combination of chain, belt, cable, tabletop, bucket, and other conveyors, systems employing hydraulic or pneumatic pistons, slides, rails, vibration conveyors, and the like. As used herein, the term “conveyor” refers to any device or system adapted to move parts before, during, and/or after treatment.
In many cases, it is highly desirable to measure one or more parameters of a part or a part's environment before, during and/or after treatment of the part. For example, it may be desirable to measure the temperature of a part being exposed to heat for any purpose. In such cases, it may also be desirable to measure the temperatures of two or more locations of the part. As another example, it may be desirable to measure any other property (e.g., strain, chemical composition, weight, density, and the like) of a part. As yet another example, it may be desirable to measure one or more properties of the environment around the part, such as the temperature, fluid flow, humidity or pressure around the part, the acidity of the environment around the part, the presence and/or amount of one or more chemicals or substances in the environment around the part, and the like.
In all such cases, the ability to take accurate part or part environment measurements can be quite limited based upon a number of factors, such as the environment itself (e.g., an extremely hot, cold, caustic, toxic, or other environment) or movement of the part, treatment system, or conveyor system. Also, many treatment systems employ one or more partially or fully enclosed chambers that can render precise and accurate part or part environment measurements difficult.